Shoppers walk across Post Oak near the Galleria on Sunday. Crowds at the Galleria have been large this weekend, prompting the mall to close an hour early on Saturday night.

Shoppers walk across Post Oak near the Galleria on Sunday. Crowds at the Galleria have been large this weekend, prompting the mall to close an hour early on Saturday night.

Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff

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Galleria rebounds from All-Star madness

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Horror stories of fights and immense crowds the night before didn't dissuade fans from returning to the Galleria on Sunday for the finale of NBA All-Star weekend.

The mall remained busy throughout the day, but crowds seemed manageable and well-behaved.

"It was crazy, just so crazy," said LaToya Christman, a guard with U.S. Security. "But compared to what we had yesterday, today is like a break. This is almost like an average weekend. It's not even packed."

On Saturday, swarms of people stormed the Galleria, pushing the facility over its legal capacity and forcing officials to shut down stores early at 8:15 p.m. Galleria officials were unable to provide crowd estimates or the facility's capacity this weekend.

Store owners reported hectic scenes with crowds running through the mall, some fighting and damaging property. Some stores pulled their gates down before the early close for safety reasons. Police blocked entrances to the mall Saturday night.

Jesus Rivera, who worked during Saturday's peak hours, said, "I work on commission, but there were just too many people here that weren't shopping and just looking. It's hard to run a business like that."

The mall reopened on schedule at 11 a.m. Sunday. With any large-scale event, mall officials add local police to compensate for the crowds, said Galleria general manager Greg Noble.

Houston Police Department officers and security officers on every floor of the mall urged people to keep walking and prevented them from congregating in front of stores.

"My two daughters made me bring them to the mall, otherwise I wouldn't be here," said Jimmy Fuentez, a 46-year-old single dad. "They wanted to see some famous people, but … it doesn't seem that bad today. This seems kind of tame."